By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
LAREDO — It didn’t take long for Edinburg North coach Richard Tressler to diagnose what had gone wrong in Game 1 of his team’s regional semifinal series Friday.
North surrendered two unearned runs and left a dozen runners on base, allowing New Braunfels Canyon to rally late and hand North a 2-1 loss in their best-of-three series at Laredo ISD Zachry Softball Complex.
With North committing back-to-back errors in the fourth inning, Canyon loaded the bases and tied the game at one apiece. Then in the sixth inning, Canyon came through with a hit that bounced past North shortstop Ayissa Maldonado and into left field, paving the way for Canyon to score the go-ahead run and take a 1-0 series lead.
“They capitalized on our mistakes, and we didn’t take advantage of what they gave us,” Tressler said. “That was the difference in the game.”
At 1 p.m. today, North (31-8) will look to avoid consecutive losses for only the second time this season.
Heading into Friday, North had strung together 15 wins in 16 outings, including six straight to qualify for the regional semifinal for the fourth time in program history.
Facing Canyon (26-8), however, North fell short of maximizing its opportunities, leaving eight batters in scoring position, including the bases loaded to close out the game.
“One hit in any one of those situations blows that game wide open,” Tressler said. “We had four different innings we should’ve scored runs and didn’t.”
It was an uncharacteristic night offensively for Edinburg North, which had outscored its opponents 56-11 through six playoff victories. Jackie Longoria, the leadoff hitter, finished 1-for-3 at the plate with one walk and one run scored. Going into Friday’s game, she had .546 batting average.
And Klarissa Lopez, who bats .513 on the season out of the three hole, went 1-for-4 on Friday.
Through three innings, North hung on to a 1-0 lead, stemming from Longoria’s run off Abby Hinojosa’s hit to second.
But Brooke Vestal, the Canyon pitcher, scored in the fourth after an error at shortstop allowed the tying run to cross home. It was one of two miscues for Edinburg North all night, after opening the game retiring nine of 10 batters.
“They played a great game,” Canyon coach Kevin Randle said. “They kept us off balance all night at the plate.
“They played really solid defense, except for those miscues, and I think that was kind of the difference. We were just able to capitalize on those few situations.”
Longoria recorded four strikeouts and surrendered six hits. She dropped to 26-7 in the circle.
Vestal struck out eight for Canyon, including a stretch between the second and fourth innings in which she struck out six of seven batters.
“We just have to be disciplined and not swing at bad pitches,” Longoria said. “We just have to get it (today) because we didn’t play to expectations (Friday). We know that.
“We just have to play like we usually do, and hopefully everything goes as we want it.”
The loss marked the second time during these playoffs in which North lost the opening game of the series.
During the bi-district round, North endured a 3-2 road loss to McAllen Rowe before bouncing back the following day with back-to-back wins.
North will need the same type of outcome today, if it hopes to extend its season.
As it stands, North is one of two Valley teams still alive in the postseason, with Weslaco High also on the brink of elimination after losing to Corpus Christi Carroll 9-7 on Friday.